War in Congo Is Over Profit—From Us

Westerners fund violence over control of minerals

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 1, 2008 8:47 AM CDT

(Newser) – We’re told that the renewed bloodshed in Congo is spurred by tribal conflict and payback for the Rwandan genocide, but that’s not true, writes Johann Hari in the Independent. In fact, the war starting again there—"the deadliest war since Adolf Hitler"—is over Congo’s rich mineral resources—and the wealth generated by selling them to Westerners. “The war in Congo is a war about you,” Hari argues.

“Congo is the richest country in the world for gold, diamonds, coltan, cassiterite, and more,” Hari writes—and they're being pillaged in order to sell them to us. "The rise of mobile phones caused a surge in deaths, because the coltan they contain is found primarily in Congo," he writes. We continue to focus on the need for a “bandage” for the problem rather than our own role at its roots. It’s time to recognize our error and prosecute the firms that are buying the “blood-soaked natural resources,” Hari says.

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Displaced people walk on the road as they return home, Friday, Oct. 31, 2008 near Kibati just north of Goma in eastern Congo. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)

The body of a Congolese government soldier lays in rebel-held territory some 40 kilometers north of Goma, in eastern Congo, Friday, Oct. 31, 2008. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

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The debate about Congo in the West—when it exists at all— focuses on our inability to provide a decent bandage, without mentioning that we are causing the wound. - Johann Hari

The Rwandan government didn't go to where the Hutu genocidaires were, at least
not at first. They went to where Congo's natural resources were—and began
to pillage them. - Johann Hari

What we are seeing now is beneficiaries of the illegal war economy fighting to maintain their right to exploit. - François Grignon, International Crisis Group

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

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War in Congo Is Over Profit—From Us